Fernando botero

"In art, as long as you have ideas and think, you are bound to deform nature. Art is deformation."
Fernando Botero

“Hombre A Caballo”
Sculpture
[pic]
“Hombre a Caballo” is a monumental sculpture located in one of the most important avenues in Bogotá, Colombia. It was created in 1998.
All art works have a history and style of its own. Something “new” is also important, because arthistory is not just the history of some themes, but you also have to take for account it’s language and style. All public art is affected by its location. The cultural differences make new adjustments.
Having public art is very important because in some way art goes to the people (different types of audiences). It is found in many places every time. It is not like going to a museum or a gallery tosee the art. Public art comes directly to you. For me, public art is any piece of art work that is made for people to touch, feel and/or communicate different ideas and perspectives. I really think Botero’s sculptures are considered public art.
I have seen this sculpture. I love all of Botero’s work. Knowing him personally makes me enjoy it even more. Every time I go to Colombia and see thesculpture, I just try to look at it in different perspectives, but for me, it is always perfect.
Line is one of the most important elements of art. Line is the trace that helps to define a form (outline). There are many varieties, they can be thick, curved, short and may have other forms. It also can be understood as the tendency of an artist, his line of work. Every artist or movement ischaracterized by a line or tendency in his work; it’s way of being.

FERNANDO BOTERO
Life & Works

Fernando Botero is an artist who is always seeking excellence. He has a secret about aesthetics, saying that beauty is a personal image. Like Aristotle once said “All our knowledge comes from our own perceptions.” Botero’s perceptions have particular references, in which subjective geometry imposerationalism. The themes in Fernando Botero’s works are full of authenticity, developing his personal ideals whether it’s in his paintings or sculptures.
He was born in 1932 in Medellin, Colombia, to a middle class family. Botero became interested in painting at an early age. As an adolescent, Botero saw in Medellin, the ceilings of chapels, altarpieces of churches, and their paintings ofreligious themes, all of which inspired him to be an artist.
Before turning twenty years old, Botero left Medellin. He moved to Bogotá in 1951, to become one of the most recognized artists of the world. He held his first one-man exhibition there at the Leo Matiz Gallery. The following year, he was awarded a Second Prize at the National Salon in Bogotá. With the money he earned from the Salon award andhis exhibitions, Botero fulfilled his longtime desire to travel to Spain, France and Italy to study the work of the old masters. In Madrid, he visited El Prado Museum daily while studying at the San Fernando Academy. In Florence, he studied at the Academy of San Marcos and was profoundly influenced by the works of Giotto, Piero della Francesca, and Andrea del Castagno.
Botero moved to New Yorkin 1960 and the following year the Museum of Modern Art of New York acquired his painting Mona Lisa. In 1973 Botero left New York for Paris and began to produce sculptures, although he never gave up painting. Fernando Botero makes the first work (sculpture) with clay. That is where Botero manages the sense of the clay and discovers his creations. Once again, the artist manages to transform some“gigantic monsters” into a special harmony. Then, that model is made in bronze. They are non-animated beings that reflect some themes of art history. Some examples of these are: Adam and Eve, Virgin with a child (Raphael), and the cat. That makes them monumental sculptures. Botero’s sculptures have traveled throughout the world. Wherever the sculptures are, they humanize the urban space...